Syracuse-area site safe from Lockheed Martin plant closures

The Lockheed Martin factory in suburban Syracuse was not on the list of factories the defense contractor announced Thursday it will close in efforts to reduce costs.

Workers in central New York could, though, be affected by the 3.5 percent workforce reduction the company also announced, which will equal about 4,000 jobs nationwide. The details of those layoffs will be finalized early next year, the company said in a release.

One of the units that will be affected by staff reductions is Mission Systems and Training, which has gone through two rounds of layoffs already this year. A spokesman told WRVO he couldn't speculate about the impacts of this announcement on the Syracuse area site.

Plans were uncovered a few weeks ago that Lockheed Martin was close to announcing it would shutter its plant in Salina, N.Y. Those plans were tabled for at least a year. Lockheed Martin said it will shut down operations in Newtown, Pa.; Akron, Ohio; Goodyear, Ariz.; and Horizon City, Texas; and four buildings on its Sunnyvale, Calif., campus.

Some of the work from those sites could be transferred to Lockheed Martin's facility in Owego, N.Y., near Binghamton.

"In the face of government budget cuts and an increasingly complex global security landscape, these actions are necessary for the future of our business and will position Lockheed Martin to better serve our customers," said Marillyn Hewson, Lockheed Martin's CEO in a statement.

Lockheed Martin said it has cut its workforce to 116,000 employees from 146,000 since 2008.